Archie, the company that’s building the financial infrastructure for the freelance economy, is publicly launching with its first product to help businesses onboard, manage and pay independent workers.
It is also announcing $4.5million in funding from B Capital Group, Mac Ventures, Worklife Ventures, Hof VC, Dash Fund, Day One Ventures, Scott Belsky (founder of Behance) and the founders of Cameo, Blank Street, Ramp, BloomTech (formerly Lambda School), Eight Sleep, and more. Since Archie launched in April 2021, it’s grown to more than $15million in payment volume run-rate, up 8 times since July 2021 alone.
The future is freelance, but there is a lack of financial tools that offer the same stability and benefits for the 1099 economy that W2 workers have had for decades. 67 million Americans currently freelance in the US, and by 2027, 86.5 million people will be freelancing, making up 51 per cent of the total US workforce. By 2028, the number will surpass 90 million to represent the workforce’s majority.
Additionally, as a result of the pandemic and the Great Resignation, remote freelancer adoption has only grown. Currently, almost half of US businesses use freelancers to support their mission, growth and revenue. 81 per cent of these companies plan to hire freelancers again.
Archie’s first product is a seamless collaboration hub that helps businesses access the freelance economy in this competitive talent environment. For decades, businesses and freelancers have relied on the same fragmented workflows including dozens of distinct online and offline systems manually strung together to source freelancers, execute contracts, approve and pay for work, transfer funds, and manage accounting and tax filings. With Archie, businesses can digitally collect the information they need from freelancers (contracts, NDAs, invoices, W-9s, etc.), keep track of project deliverables and time spent, pay freelancers with one click, and manage year-end tax filings. From onboarding and contracts to payroll and taxes, every step of the freelance hiring process is streamlined and can be accessed cross-functionally on Archie.
With combined experiences from Square, Facebook, Complex, and Milk Studios, co-founders Yunas Reguero, Cassandra Aaron and previously Dylan Hattem are building the financial layer to help freelancers achieve financial security and independence. Their SMB product will enable them to leverage its structured knowledge about freelancer payments (from PDFs, ACH/wires, etc.) to underwrite products and build better and more accessible financial services for 1099s.
“People want to join the freelance economy but are scared of all the financial obstacles,” said Yunas Reguero, co-founder of Archie. “At the same time, businesses are increasingly relying on freelancers but the tools to tap into this economy are stuck in the past. We’re building the onramp for both sides to unlock the magic of the freelance world. With all these new and decentralized ways of both working and earning, we are excited to bridge that gap and accelerate trends in freelance hiring.”
“We always look for innovative ways to change the narrative around how businesses work with freelancers. This underpins our partnership with Archie. We work with hundreds of creators and influencers every month, and the platform has helped our team handle this volume while keeping our ambassadors in the loop and in control,” said Grace Murray, VP of Strategy at Fohr, a leading ambassador marketing company. “Archie helps us save valuable time and resources so we can focus on creating the best-in-class campaigns for our clients.”
